Ashes to Ashes
by Yhunoh
Summary: Ruby lost the battle on the airship, leaving her a captive of Roman Torchwick. She will have to come to terms with the fact that there are no fairy tales in real life and happy endings are a luxury that only few can afford.
1. Chapter 1

Just wrote this as a short one-shot, but got some more ideas with it. Gonna see how this goes. NO shippings, just some self-indulgent dark trash. I suck at grammar.

 **OOC Ruby** , I'm not very familiar with RWBY, just watched the first three seasons last week, so the characters are gonna be a bit… off. I realized after reading the finished piece that I made Ruby extremely ooc, apologies for that.

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They had lost. _She_ had lost. She jumped onto the airship in hopes of taking down whoever had taken control over it. She thought she could win. She had been an idiot. When Ruby opened the strange girls umbrella, she felt invincible. It was such a tiny, unimportant victory- she shouldn't have allowed herself to feel proud for tricking her. But she did, and it made her reckless. Really, she stood no chance from the beginning on. Roman Torchwick took her down in a stride, Grimm flying past them left and right, every once in a while trying to get a piece of the fighting humans. _If_ her pathetic counterattacks to his merciless onslaught could even be called fighting. Before she knew it, she was writhing on the ground, the ginger raining down punches at her defenseless body. She hazily recalled him hauling her up, dragging her limp body into the airship. Some part of her that she refused to acknowledge felt relieve at this. At least she wouldn't die. _But she really should have._

Ruby woke to the sound of the Grimm's screeches in the distance, awful cries of suffering and madness, intermingled with the faint sound of _human_ screams. She longed for her Scythe, instincts screaming at her to do something, anything. _To_ _Fight._ But Crescent Rose lay in the hands of the enemy, and so did she. Captured because she wasn't strong enough. Not good enough. Ruby should have never gone alone and now she paid the price for her overconfidence. She didn't even want to think about what might have happened to her friends in the meantime. The friends she left behind, because she thought she could do this. _And she failed them._ She wished she could cover her ears, if only to stop the terrible noise from driving her insane.

Her wrists hurt, thin rope digging deeper into pale flesh, leaving faint bruises behind. Nonetheless, she never stopped turning and twisting her hands, pain blooming as the rope burnt her skin. She needed to stop, but she couldn't. Not if she had just the tiniest fraction of a chance to break free from her bonds and escape. At one point she was so close to simply sprinting out of the airship and taking her chances with the Grimm. Bound and helpless it would take them no time to devour her. But perhaps this was a better fate than what awaited her as a captive.

She froze as a heavy hand clasped around her shoulder. She hadn't noticed the footsteps. "Enjoying the spectacle, Red?" Malice bled through his words and Ruby was sure that he was grinning, even without sparing a look at her captor. She wondered if he felt anger at the loss of his partner. Or whoever that girl had been.  
Ruby tried ignoring him but she couldn't stop the faint shiver that ran through her body, as the hand grasped tighter around her shoulder. She felt repulsion at his touch. "Cat got your tongue?" There it was again. That smug, self-assured tone. _Just leave me alone_. "You know, I don't have to keep you. If you are of no use to me, I can make sure to kick you off this airship. _W_ _hile_ we are still in the air. I'm sure Neo would appreciate some ironic vengeance."  
 _Please do_. She thought bitterly. _I would rather die a warrior than become your plaything or trophy._

This wasn't how the stories ended. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This was no heroes death. There was nothing honorable or brave about her situation. Just a little girl that had gotten in over her head and had found herself captured in the process. But she couldn't just die. Not if her friends were still out there. Not with Yang waiting for her. She couldn't do this to them. So she answered.

"If you kill me now, it would make all the trouble you went through to get me worthless. And that would be no fun, right?" Roman laughed, a loud unpleasant sound. It made her ears ring. And his arm still wouldn't budge. "Killing you _does_ have a certain appeal though. After all the times you foiled my plans along with your annoying friends, I think I am entitled to some revenge. But you know, having you here as my prisoner is pretty damn rewarding too. So maybe you are right. Just don't get cocky over it."

"What do you want from me? Just keeping me here until you get bored of this and then kill me?"

She didn't mean to sound so vulnerable. Her hands balled to fists, putting more strain onto her wrists. Somehow the pain calmed her. "Well, there are a few things I can think of. I could make you into my little plaything, get some obedience into that rebellious brain of yours. Or turn you into a drooling, incomprehensible mess for my entertainment. Then again, it would also be rather amusing to pit you against your old friends, once I have you properly broken. Who knows, maybe you will even get a kill, in case they refuse to fight back! As you can see, I have a lot of ideas lined up in there and all of them sound simply marvelous."

She trembled, stepping hastily away from the man. His touch felt like burning iron, even after his hand fell off her shoulder. "You are a monster" she whispered.

"I'm going to let this one slide because we haven't started yet, but the next time you try and insult me, I _will_ make you regret it. Capiche?" She refused to answer once again, pointedly staring at the gray tiles of the airship. He roughly gripped her arm, whirling her around. One hand grasped her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. A smile adorned his face. Oh, how she longed to punch this face until he could no longer smile. "Do you understand?" She nodded, if only to get him to leave her in peace. "Fantastic. My little red riding hood." "I'm not yours" she retorted angrily, eyes blazing. He chuckled. "Not _yet_. Give it some time." And with that he left.

The girl turned back to the window, detached eyes gazing over the carnage beneath her. Fog clouded her vision, but every once in a while she got a clear view over the city. Some distant part of her screamed in silence as she noticed that the upper part of Beacon Tower had been torn off, a huge Wyvern circling around the broken building. Just when had things turned out this way? And when did she realize that not all Fairy Tales have a happy ending? She let her head fall onto the window, forehead resting on the cool glass. _Please be sa_ _f_ _e everyone. I'm sorry._ A lone tear escaped from silvery eyes. There was no more Beacon Academy. No more Team RWBY. No more anything. She would never get the chance to become a huntress now. Even if she refused to break under Roman, he would just get rid of her once she bored him. Her eyes fell back onto the exit, before returning to the window, longingly staring at the night sky outside.

 _Go ahead and run._ The small voice in the back of her head teased. _See how you survive that fall. Maybe you will only break your legs, but I think the chances are against you._ _Who knows, perhaps you will be crippled for the rest of your life._ _Then you can say goodbye to being a huntress forever._ _Though the Grimm will probably tear you to pieces before your body even touches the ground._ _Or_ _would you rather take on_ _the crime-boss who plans to warp everything you are and have been into a caricature of yourself?_

She slid down the wall, tears escaping her eyes as she began to sob. Her head rested on her knees, legs drawn in as close to her body as she could manage. If her hands weren't bound behind her back, she would be hugging herself for comfort.

She was all alone and no one would come to her rescue. She was all alone and there was nothing she could do. She was all alone and soon she would become Roman's newest pet-project. She was all alone and she missed her friends. Her sister. Her dog. She even missed her teachers.

She was all alone and she was just a little girl in a war zone, fighting a battle she couldn't possibly win.

She was all alone and she didn't want to die.

She was all alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the positive feedback!**

I'm not sure if I'm happy with the way I wrote the characters and the story (who am I kidding, I'm not) but welp, here we go. There is gonna be some graphic stuff (injuries), so don't read this if it makes you uncomfortable. (English is not my first language so I apologize if sometimes sentences seem a bit jumbled, etc.)

 _[This story is trash and so am I]_

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When Ruby came to her senses, she was greeted by the sight of an unfamiliar room. She couldn't remember how she got there. In fact, she was unable to recall anything that happened after her breakdown on the airship. Frustration grew, as her memories continued being shrouded in darkness. Roman must have drugged her at some point. Or perhaps she might have lost consciousness after the shock of everything that had transpired?

Still, she felt anger at her carelessness – she should have stayed alert, instead of letting herself be overwhelmed by what happened.

Weiss would be lecturing her right now, were she present. Ruby could nearly trick herself into hearing the girls voice. Her heart ached at the thought of her teammate. She missed them all so much already. But this wasn't the time for mourning. The sooner she managed to break out of here, the sooner she would be able to reunite with her friends.

The soft mattress budged slightly as she shifted. Her hands were still bound behind her back, but the thin rope had been replaced with heavy handcuffs. The cold metal stung. Her eyes roamed across the decently sized room, taking in every single detail. The walls were of an unpleasant gray tone, some of the color fading already. The floor consisted of simple concrete, a lighter gray in shade. To her surprise, an opening in the wall led to a tiny bathroom. All in all, the room was quite sparse, the only furniture being the bed she had awoken on.

The frame of said bed was made out of light wood. Ruby wondered if Roman had chosen a wooden structure instead of a metal one so she wouldn't be able to use any of it as a weapon. Well, she doubted she would come very far with her hands bound anyway. It might have been worth a shot though. Pity. Lastly, she noticed the iron door to the left of her. She wobbled up from the bed - movements anything but graceful due to her current state – and decided to inspect it.

She noted the strange square handle first, consisting of the same metal as the door. Upon further investigation, Ruby noticed a small slit in the heavy iron. She supposed that someone needed to insert their scroll in order to open it. Ruby decided to file this information away for now. It might come in handy later.

To her disappointment, she soon discovered that throwing her body against the heavy frame only resulted in a new set of bruises and an aching shoulder, but the door didn't budge in the slightest. Ruby stumbled back to the bed, sitting down on the white mattress. There was no escape. _For now._

"Okay, I'm sure that someone will show up. Right? They can't just leave me here like this, not after everything that scumbag said. No need to be nervous, I have everything in control. Totally." She muttered, trying to calm herself down, but it was of no use. Her anxiety reached an all time high, leaving her fidgety and scared. She took a deep breath, counting to five. _Just wait, and the minute someone shows up dash past them._ Yeah, that sounded like a plan. She only needed to sit here, and once Roman decided to pay her a visit, she would be gone faster than he could say 'Red'.

Agonizing seconds trickled by as nothing happened. She changed positions multiple times, tried fiddling with her chains and bounced up and down the mattress, just to switch to pacing across the room. Her body was loaded with energy. And then she heard it – footsteps. She started up, sneaking across the room to position herself next to the door, breath held in anticipation. Her heart beat so loud, she was afraid the person behind the door would hear it.

The footsteps stopped in front of her prison, eliminating her fear that the visitor didn't come here for her. She grew tense, as the door slowly opened with a loud creak.

The second it fell open enough for Ruby's body to fit through, she dashed past the entrance. A grin broke out on her face when she passed the treshold, joyousness taking over her. She barely noticed the indistinct shape of a person that had been pushed out of the way at her escape. And why would she? She had no time for distractions right now! Not with freedom being so close. She cursorily noticed the long corridor ahead of her, but she paid no attention to the details, only focused on reaching any sort of exit. She needed to be gone before reinforcements arrived. Her semblance ended, leaving behind a storm of red rose petals in her wake.

Ruby couldn't stop the childish giggle from leaving her lips, freedom so close she could grasp it- and then she tumbled onto the gray (it must be a theme, some detached part of her noticed) floor, body rolling across the tiles as suddenly unbearable pain pierced through her right leg. Her ears were ringing – was that a shot? _Have I been shot?_ She panicked, trying to activate her semblance once more, but it only lead to more pain and agony. She stopped her futile struggle, lying on the floor in a heap of agony. Her eyes ran along her body, stopping at the bloody foot. There was decent sized hole in her lower leg, visible even through her tattered boot, blood seeping out of it and tainting the tiles red.

She looked away again, and suddenly breathing became so very hard, and she couldn't focus- her vision becoming blurry and unsteady and now she was breathing too fast- oh god she was going to _die_

she couldn't breathe and the black was taking over and the red and her leg _hurt_ so much and-

A sharp sting resonated through her cheek, snapping her out of her panic-induced state.

"Getting a bit squeamish over blood there, Red?" She froze, her heart suddenly beating at a hundred miles an hour as she recognised the mocking voice. Her vision returned back to normal, and she jumped a little at the sight of the person crouching in front of her. "I thought they trained you guys to handle situations like this. How do you want to be a huntress if you get panic attacks over such a small wound?"

When he received no answer from the girl, he frowned, leaning closer. "Hello-ho?" He waved one hand in front of her eyes, startling her out of her absence. "I- you…" She stopped, gathering herself.

" _You_ aren't one to talk, I'm the one that has a hole in her leg!" "Touché" he retorted. "I was afraid I had broken you too early for a second there!" He received a cold glare in response, but it only furthered his amusement. Ruby quieted down as she processed everything that had happened, her aching leg a harsh reminder of the failed escape attempt.

"I nearly made it." She whispered. "Excuse me?" When she repeated herself, Roman was surprised to see a glimmer of tears in the girls eyes. "I was so close! Why…" she stopped, and for a second it seemed like she would either start crying or scream at him. She tensed up, her body going taut in stress for a second, before giving up. "Nevermind." It came out barely above a whisper, so silent even he had troubles understanding the young girl.

"So, did you plan to shoot me the moment I started an escape attempt, or was it a decision you took in the heat of the moment?" Ruby surprised herself by how calm and collected she sounded. Inwardly, her thoughts were a mess and her leg burnt like crazy- but on the outside she could pose as if she wasn't affected by it all that much. She could tell it surprised Roman. He didn't expect her to cope so well.

"Come on Red, do you really take me for such a bad person, to have _planned_ something like this? Give me more credit than that!"

"Yes." Her voice remained deadpan as she answered, withholding any further comments. He whistled, adjusting his hat. "You know, you were pretty quiet up on the airship. I'm glad you still got some fight left in you."

"I was quiet _because_ I just saw my friend die, the arena had been attacked by a Griffon, more Grimm overran Vale, people were dying and you captured me. What did you expect? That I would start singing?" She hissed. He halted for a second, contemplating her words. "Oh. Well, my condolences for the friend. As for the rest; _you_ were the one that decided that it would be a smart idea to fight alone on an enemy's airship. Don't blame me for your mishaps."

"Don't you think I know that already? I was an idiot, thank you very much. No need to rub it in." Ruby muttered.

" _Because_ it is the truth. If _you_ hadn't decided to be a pain in the ass to _me_ , you would be safe with your friends right now, baking cookies, making friendship-bracelets and whatever else you guys are doing when you aren't busy getting on my nerves or killing Grimm." "We are not doing that!" She shouted, cheeks reddening. "Well… just sometimes. And those are fun activities!" Roman scoffed. "I'm sure they are." "Yes! At least it's better than anything you and your criminal friends are doing!" She protested weakly.

"Don't get flustered so easily, Red. I might be tempted to take advantage of it," he winked. "Eugh, no." Ruby shuddered. "As for the rest of your poorly worded sentence," "it wasn't!" He rolled his eyes at her interruption, continuing as if she had said nothing, ignoring her pouting.

"The things my 'criminal friends' and I are doing are lucrative. I am looking out for my own good, a concept that you are probably not very familiar with. After all, you like to throw yourself headfirst into danger the moment you spot it. Not a good recepe for survival."

"I'm saving people! I am doing it for the good of everyone!" Anger overtook her as she saw Roman's condescending grin.

"How can you do all of this? So many people are suffering because of your actions, and those of Cinder and the White Fang. How can you be on their side and not feel guilty? How… how can you just go on with your day, without caring about the fates of all those that had gotten hurt by you?" The words were tumbling out before Ruby had the chance to think about what she was saying. She took a glance at the gingers face, shrinking a little when she noticed the expressionless mask it had become. Gone was the apparent cheerfulness he had put to show just seconds before. He stood up, towering over the young girl.

"You want to know how I can do this?" She nodded, silver eyes wide and curious. "Because I don't care." He continued at Ruby's confused expression. "I don't care about you. I don't care about the people that died at our attack. All I care about is being on the winner team and getting my profit out of it. _You-"_ she yelped as he pushed the cane against her chest - "are nothing more than a bonus. Now let's get you back to your room, your blood is ruining the floor."

"You are awful." She wanted to say it out loud- shout it into his face- but it trailed off in a choked whisper when she looked at him. And she knew that he spoke the truth. He already told her back at their fight on the airship, didn't he? He cared about her existence the way he cared about everyone else. Not at all. He would get rid of her the second she stopped being a lucrative bonus and started being more of an annoyance. He still heard her, she noticed his face twitching, but he gave no answer.

Before she even knew what was happening, he knelt down next to her, taking her lithe form up princess style. "What are you doing?!" She yelled out, struggling as his grip tightened. "Carrying you back to your room, now stop wriggling." She ignored him, instead opting to continue. "I can walk by myself, I don't need your help" she protested. He chuckled at her flustered state. "Are you sure?" "Yes! Now let me go!" "You _really_ want me to let go of you?" Momentarily forgetting about her predicament, Ruby nodded energetically- and was promptly dropped.

She hit the ground hard, a fresh wave of searing pain emitting from her abused leg. She let out a high-pitched scream, unable to hold her voice back. Tears stung in her eyes, blurrying her vision. When she finally managed to blink them away, she nearly gagged at the sight of her leg. If she thought that it had looked bad before, than she sure hadn't seen anything yet. More blood coated her legs, and started painting the floor bright red. Her leg pointed into a direction she was pretty sure it was _not_ supposed to be pointing at, and the hole looked simply gruesome. She decided to look away before she lost it.

Roman tapped the cane on the ground, eyes watching her suffering in silent amusement. "Go on Red. Show me how well you can walk by yourself. Impress me."

Ruby clenched her teeth. For one second she considered trying to get up, just to spite him, but the rational part of her knew that this moronic. She needed to take it easy, not make it even worse for herself. And as much as she wanted to show this arrogant jerk that she _did not_ need his help – definitely, one hundred percent not! - this really was not the right time. Unless she fancied being in a world of agony for the next few minutes, or hours, that is. Which she really didn't.

So she swallowed her pride, head hanging low. "I can't walk." Roman put one hand behind his ear, feigning surprise. "What was that? I didn't quite catch it!" Ruby took a deep breath, nails digging into the skin of her palms. _Just stay calm, you can punch him later._

"I _said,_ I can't walk." Now she sounded like Weiss.

"Really? Well, that is quite a shame. Is there anything I can do to help you with your current…" he pointed at her leg - "situation?" Ruby groaned loudly. "Just carry me and get this over with."

"I thought you were able to walk by yourself? After all, I offered you my help before, but you decided to turn me down in favor of this." He gestured at her position on the ground, mouth curving up into a smirk. "Just carry me! I'm not going to play your little game, so stop it!"

He gasped in mock offense. "Why, Red, I only wanted to help you! I recall you telling me to let you go, as you are perfectly capable of walking by yourself. So being the gentleman I am, I followed your orders to the word!"

Ruby let herself fall back onto the ground, silver eyes watching the ceiling above. "Fine, I will stay here then. Have fun mopping up the blood." She heard the faint rustling of clothes, as the annoying crime-boss knelt down next to her, picking up her limp body. "Don't be like this. I was only teasing you, Red." She snorted, avoiding his gaze. "Sure." "This wouldn't have happened if you had just been a good girl and behaved yourself." "Did you really expect me to just sit still and wait for you to twist me into your plaything, or whatever you have planned?"

She winced as his fingers dug painfully hard into her shoulder. _This is gonna leave bruises._ As if she didn't have enough already. "I had hoped you would not be dumb enough to attempt the obvious. But if I'm being honest, I'm kinda glad you are. I had fun." "Good to know at least one of us is enjoying themselves" she answered, before realizing something. "Wait, did you just call me stupid?"

Once they arrived back at 'her' room, Roman dumped the girl unceremoniously onto the bed, leaving after telling her that he would be back soon. He kept true to his word, bringing a first aid kit with him. Something in Ruby's gut clenched uncomfortably at the sight of him.

Before he was able to start, Roman noticed that the blood had somehow glued her boot to the leg, making it a necessity to cut the boot off. She grieved the cruel loss of her footwear.

The entire process of setting her foot back into the right direction, disinfecting the wound and wrapping it up neatly in pristine white bandages also ended up taking longer than Ruby would have liked. She wasn't a novice to injuries by far, but it didn't take her long to notice that Roman handled her body more than carelessly.

In fact, he spared no opportunity to deliver even more pain to her already hurting body. Be it by _accidentally_ poking the wound (she bit her lip bloody to prevent herself from screaming) or by twisting the leg a little too hard, and a bit too much. He also decided that her shackles were in fact not quite tight enough, (could have fooled her, after all she had already been rubbing her wrists raw on the harsh metal) instead tightening them to a point where she feared they might cut off the bloodstream to her hands.

But in the end, it was not the horrible treatment or the pain that made the ordeal so unbearable.

Neither was it the loss of her footwear, or the fact that Roman had tightened the handcuffs to an unbearable level simply for his own amusement.

No, it was his _sickeningly_ cheerful mood that really drove her over the edge. He even went as far as to start whistling a happy tune, only here and there interrupting it by complaining about how her blood was ruining his suit. (Ruby _really_ missed her weapon during these moments).

All in all, it was terrible, she hated it, she hated him and she wanted away.

She sighed in relief when he was finally done with everything. Ruby had a distinct feeling that he made it worse instead of better, but there wasn't exactly a whole lot she could do about it. So she kept quiet and waited for him to leave.

Only to realize that she still needed something from him when he turned to go. "Wait!" She called out, just barely loud enough to get his attention. He turned around, one eyebrow raised. "Missing me already? Looks like we really need to tackle these attachment issues, Red" he mocked. She ignored the jab, instead asking what she had been wanting to ask since her capture.

"What happened to my friends? My group? You met them, we were fighting you together! You know the blonde girl and the black haired girl with yellow eyes and Weiss -" He raised one hand, stopping her bubbling. "I know who you are talking about." She waited, but received no further answer. "Do you know if they are alright?" She asked cautiously.

He leaned against the wall, fishing out a cigar from his pocket. She crinkled her nose as he blew out the smoke. "Red, what on earth makes you think that I would be giving you this information?" "What?" He rolled his eyes. "You are my prisoner, I am your enemy. Why would I be giving my prisoner valuable information for nothing?" "Then what do you want?" Her cheeks tinged a soft red as he started laughing at her question. "What I want? Red, there is nothing you can give me that I can't just simply take. You have no room for bargaining."

She remained silent while he took another puff from his cigar. "I have got some work to do. Try to refrain from escaping while I'm gone." He winked at her, opening the door.

"She has long blonde hair. Lilac eyes. She is using yellow gauntlets to fight- you fought her in the past." He stopped, taking a long breath. "Red, do I need to repea-" "She is my sister." Ruby interrupted him. Her silver eyes had a desperate sheen to them. "Please."

Disappointment welled up inside her as Roman stepped out of the room. Just before closing the door, he paused for a second. "I haven't seen her." Tears gathered in Ruby's eyes. "T-thank you." She looked away shyly. "You know, you aren't such a bad person if you just -" She flinched as the door fell forcefully shut - "try."

"Or not."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reading!**

I've been quite busy lately and honestly I'm just pushing this chapter out so I can finally release it. I wrote this when I was half-asleep so yeah… anyways, enjoy!

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Ruby wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed since Roman's departure. All she knew was that she felt incredibly tired, exhausted, and every cell in her body hurt. For a while she forced herself to keep on alert, body tensed and loaded with nervous energy as she expected the crime-boss to return at any second. But after an eternity of fixing the door she just couldn't stay attentive much longer. She yawned a couple times, sleepiness slowly taking a hold of her. She allowed her head to fall back onto the pillow, figuring that getting some much needed sleep probably wouldn't hurt. Being able to escape from the nightmare her life had turned into was just an added bonus.

In the end, she probably wouldn't have needed any arguments on why a handful of sleep would be helpful, because she found herself unable to do exactly that. Each time she relaxed into the mattress and let herself slumber in, new waves of pain would drown out any previous sleepiness. She tried to ignore it and really- she shouldn't be _this_ affected by her wound, she had dealt with worse- but all her effort was in vain. Her inability to sit still didn't help the matter either. She felt herself twitching and jerking, unable to loosen up. She rolled onto her other side, careful not to agitate her leg any further. For the time being she gave up her futile efforts of catching some sleep. Right now it just made her more twitchy and nervous, so it was no use anyways.

 _Might as well think of some ways to get outta here_. She chewed her bottom lip slowly. Her leg gave her the most grief for now, and was definitely reason for concern. As long as the wound hadn't healed properly, she would be too restricted in her movement. But this could take from weeks up to months! In her opinion, this time-span seemed far too long to be deemed acceptable. If she had any say about this, she would much rather escape in the next few days, not wait for weeks. But judging from how badly it hurt, Ruby doubted it would be a good idea to put any amount of unnecessary pressure on it. And the last time she used her semblance didn't exactly end well.

Even if it healed quickly through some kind of miracle, she would still be trapped in a place she didn't know, locked behind a heavy door that wouldn't budge. And if Roman caught her escaping again, he likely wouldn't be as 'generous' as he had been the first time. But all hope wasn't lost yet. She had not forgotten about the slit in the door. Even though she didn't actually see Roman operating the door, she was still pretty confident that he used a scroll in order to lock and unlock the entrance to her prison. She also took notice of his rather large self- confidence, giving him a certain cockiness. He underestimated her- which was a good thing. She might be able to use his arrogance against him in the future. He thought he had her in the palm of his hands, able to manipulate her however he pleased. But she would prove him wrong. Ruby Rose will not let herself be manipulated by anyone, and least of all a criminal!

But how would she be able to get a hold of the scroll? It's not like she could just take it from him. He would notice once he tried to lock the room, making any efforts of stealing it useless. Even with him underestimating her it didn't help her one bit in this situation! Ruby groaned in frustration. Why did this have to be so complicated? "Okay, let's go through this step to step. First- door needs a scroll in order to be locked and unlocked. Second- whoever steps into this room will most likely be in possession of one. So obviously Roman, which isn't helping me a lot, and perhaps anyone else that comes by. At least I assume that they will have one. Third and the most important question- how can I get one, without anyone noticing?" She muttered quietly. This still wasn't helping her case. She only confirmed what she already knew, without coming up with any solutions to her problem. Maybe she should focus on a different approach to this…

Ruby couldn't overpower Roman. Sadly, the fight on the airship had proven this fact. Even if she weren't injured, she still needed her Scythe. She might stand a good chance against him if she still had her weapon, but alas, she didn't. If only he granted others permission to visit her. She might not win against him, but she sure as hell would be able to knock out a simple guard, as long as she had the advantage of surprise over them. Just, it seemed like Roman was hell-bent on being the only person that Ruby ever encounters. Since her capture she hadn't interacted with any other living being. Maybe he was the only one in this building? She chewed on her lip nervously. She had never heard any sounds except her captors footsteps. But that didn't mean anything. Maybe her prison was simply isolated from the rest of the premise. Assuming she was not the only person in this building, Roman most likely would have someone else step by her prison one day. He would at least need to bring her food, and fresh bandages once hers got too soaked in blood. He wouldn't really be doing all of this by himself, right? Ruby took a deep breath, swearing that she would knock out the first regular guard he sent by and make her escape no matter the consequences. It might just be her only chance at freedom.

Ruby suspected that she could also play the broken victim in order to gain Roman's favors. If he thought her to be compliant, he might grant her more freedom and privileges coming along with this. But the thought of being his little puppet didn't struck well with her. She would only go along with this plan, if anything else failed. It was also the kind of plan that needed a lot of time to be executed. After all, it would definitely rise suspicion if the formerly rebellious girl turned into a model prisoner over night. She would need to play along with being broken, over the turn of who knows how long. No, this seemed too risky and unstable to work.

Ruby would never admit it openly, but a small part of her rejected it because she was afraid that in the end her acting would turn into bitter reality. She was confident that she could resist Roman's efforts to break her but…

 _a small part of her wasn't quite so sure about this._

Ruby cracked her neck, sighing. She needed an actual plan that she could put in action. Well- the whole 'overpowering the guard' wasn't so bad, but it relied on too many variables. Most importantly, on the fact that Roman would actually entrust someone else with the care of her. It's not like she could just force him to do this. Or could she? Ruby flopped around. This involved too much 'maybe', 'perhaps' and other things based solely off luck and probability. Why couldn't she think of a single working, fool-proof plan? Right now, none of what she came up with seemed to work. She would have to wait and see if an opportunity presented itself. But this was exactly what she didn't want to do- sticking around here longer.

There was still some hope left, even if it flickered like a dying flame. According to Roman's cryptic answer, Yang might be alright. Of course, this doesn't exclude her dying to Grimm, or to White Fang members, or to Cinder or… Ruby shook her head, balling her fists. She shouldn't be thinking like this. Of course her sister was alright, she was the strongest of their team! No, she should be more worried about the rest of her teammates, and the other students. Beacon Academy had fallen, but it seemed like most of the students had been evacuated. Ruby hoped that no one followed her example and rushed into fights they couldn't win. Right now, she simply had to assume that everyone was alright. And if they were fine, then maybe someone would be coming to help her.

 _But you didn't tell anyone where you went when you decided to go on that suicide mission of yours._

"Shut up" she whispered, ignoring the tiny voice in her head. They would figure it out, right? Of course they would. She refused to give up hope so early. She would be able to break out from here, either by herself or with the help of others. And everyone would be alright. Even if it was childish, she couldn't stop clinging to this thought. It helped preserve her sanity, and it would help her endure whatever terrors her captor was planning on inflicting on her. So what if it seemed naive? At least she had something to fight for. She refused to just give up and let herself be broken. This was not an option.

She rolled onto her back again, eyes following the cracks on the ceiling. Her arms dug into her spine uncomfortably, the shackles not helping with the problem. Maybe she could get Roman to take them off later. Or at least bind her arms in front of her. How was she even supposed to move like this? Ruby didn't feel very optimistic about the possible outcome of her request though. Knowing him, he would leave them on just to spite her. She closed her eyes, breathing slowing. And snapped them open again when a sharp pain emitted from her wrists. A twinge of annoyance rose in her. _What is it this time?_ She frowned, carefully turning to the side. She strained her neck to take a look at her wrists, but gave up when she fell face-down into the mattress instead. She felt something slick running down her wrists. Was she bleeding? Great, now she had another thing to worry about- infections. Who knew how dirty those cuffs were. She really needed to convince Roman to let her out of these. It's not like she would be going anywhere soon. Deciding that there wasn't a lot she could do about her wrists, she stayed in her current position, lying on her belly. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but probably the best one she could achieve in her current state. She might even be able to fall asleep like this.

She did _not_ fall asleep. It didn't take her long to realize that ignoring the pain didn't cause it to magically vanish. Adding to that, she also felt incredibly stressed and uncomfortable about the idea of falling asleep when Roman could come check up on her at any minute. This certainly wasn't something she wanted to happen. So she ended up lying on the bed, dark hair tickling her face, silver eyes falling shut every once and then before flying open again all of a sudden.

After a while, a new problem presented itself in her ever-growing list of problems: She was thirsty. She ignored it at first, being too wrapped up in her drowsiness and the pain to pay any attention to it. But soon enough, her throat started to dry out together with the inside of her mouth, indicating that something had to be done. She carefully turned around, facing the bathroom. Ruby really hoped that it contained actual running water, as she didn't check it earlier. She now realized just how much of a mistake this had been, but there was nothing she could do about it.

She really wished she didn't have to get up but there was no other choice. Except to ask Roman perhaps, and she didn't feel too keen on doing that. He would most likely make her beg for something as simple as water, and she did not want to degrade herself any further. And if she asked him for help, he may just assume that she was becoming more dependent on him, which didn't sit well with her. She would do this her own way.

 _Let's just get this over with._

She took a deep breath, assessing the situation. She could steady herself with her good leg, and avoid putting too much pressure on the other one. Yeah, that would work. She lifted both her legs, grimacing as the pain that had been slumbering for the past few minutes awoke again. Her right foot hovered over the floor, left one touching the ground. So far so good. She pushed her upper body upwards, wincing when she accidentally put some pressure onto her right foot. At least she was sitting upright now. One win for Ruby. The only thing left to do now, was to somehow drag herself across the room and hope for the best. A tiny whine escaped her lips as she put more weight onto her injured foot, getting up from the bed. Teeth clenching hard, she continued on her painstaking journey. It took her an embarrassingly long amount of time to arrive at the small run-down bathroom, but she made it.

To her shared relief and astonishment, the bathroom actually contained a small shower, a toilet and a sink. She longingly stared at the shower, aching for a long hot bath to rub away all the dirt that had gathered over the course of the past events. But with her hands shackled, taking one would be to be too much of an inconvenience right now. The room wasn't particularly warm, so if she took one in her clothes she would freeze half to death. And that didn't even account the possibility of Roman walking in on her. Definitely didn't need one _that_ badly. She turned towards the basin, furrowing her eyebrows. It had one handle, so it should be easy enough to activate it even in her current state. She turned around, fumbling around blindly until she caught hold of the cold metal grip and turned it on. Ruby bowed down, flinching for a second as the ice-cold water hit her face. It didn't stop her from gulping down as much as possible though. One couldn't be too sure how long she would be provided with such supplies. She took one last gulp and let the water swirl around in her mouth, spitting it out after she was done. This was about the best she could do to clean her mouth right now.

Now she only had to repeat the process from before, and get back to the softness of the bed. Stifling a curse, Ruby went to work. She managed a few steps before her leg suddenly gave up underneath her, sending her tumbling face-forward onto the floor. She took harsh, quick breaths through clenched teeth, suppressing the urge to scream. The pain emitting from her leg was excruciating, taking over all her senses and leaving her weak and immobile on the ground. She couldn't even be bothered to gather herself up and continue walking. Instead, Ruby stayed where she was, too exhausted and in too much pain to care about her current position.

The coldness of the tiles slowly seeped into her skin, causing her to shudder. She gazed longingly at the bed, so close yet so far away. Maybe she should give it another try… but she was so tired and she didn't want to irritate her leg any further. She barely noticed her eyes closing, head falling back onto the ground.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty, rise and shine!" She twitched, but reacted no further. Something started poking her side insistently. "Just five more minutes Yang" she mumbled. And screamed abruptly when something poked her leg. Hard. She drove up, vision blurry and clouded by black spots, dizziness causing her to sway wildly and nearly fall back down again. All her previous sleepiness had evaporated, leaving her wide awake. "Stop that!" She yelled as she saw Roman poking her wounded leg with his cane, a sadistic glint in his eyes. He grinned at her discomfort, gaze shifting towards her face. "Red, if you don't like beds you should have just told me so! It would have saved me some money on furniture- just kidding, it was for free." His annoying laughter rang through Ruby's head as she was still fighting against the waves of agony that tormented her body.

She moaned as the pain slowly subsided. "W-why did you do that?" "You wouldn't wake up. Don't complain about it" he said in a matter of fact tone, as if it were completely normal to wake someone up by literally poking their freaking injury. Tensed silence filled the room as Ruby angrily stared at her tormentor. Her show-down was interrupted by the sudden and loud grumbling coming from her belly. Her cheeks turned a slight red while she tried to mask the grumbling by coughing awkwardly. It was too late though, as Roman had already heard it. "Looks like somebody is hungry" he remarked, eyes fixed on the girl. "Yeah, I haven't eaten in since you brought me here" Ruby said, rolling her eyes as if to say 'duh'. Suddenly her voice turned sweeter. "By the way, there isn't really a chance that you know how long I've been here?" "Not gonna tell you, Red. But good try!" Ruby pouted, shoulders sagging down. "I suppose you won't just give me food like this, and will instead tell me to give you something in return, right?"

He raised an eyebrow, clapping sarcastically. "I see that even you are capable of learning." "What is that supposed to mean" Ruby muttered. "If you ask me really nicely, I might be willing to give you something in return." "And with 'really nicely' you mean you want me to beg for the food, right?" A wicked grin was all she needed to answer her question. "What if I refuse to?" "Then you won't be getting any. Not really a big loss for me." Ruby chewed her lip in aggravation. There was no way out of this, not without severely injuring her pride. Why couldn't things just be easy for once? "Can I get something to eat?" She hissed out, face scrunching up in distaste. "You can barely call that asking nicely, much less begging. I'm getting the feeling you don't want to eat at all, Red." She balled her hands, trying to ignore the feelings of shame that rushed through her. "Please, can I have something to eat?" "Still not exactly what I meant, but alright. You know, you being on the ground really adds to this whole thing. I like it!" She clenched her teeth at his mocking words. Now wasn't the time to get mad. "So, you are gonna give me something or not?" "Don't be so impatient Red. I can change my mind about this any time so it would be better if you tried being a bit more polite."

For one second she considered a harsh retort, but she knew it wasn't worth it. He just wanted to provoke her, and if she allowed him to things would only get worse. "I'm sorry." She said flatly, trying to ignore the satisfaction her apology gave him. She froze as something touched her head. A hand gently ruffled her hair. "Well done." She shivered at the gleeful tone, holding her breath until he removed his hand. Only then she dared to exhale shakily, body taut in stress.

To her surprise, Roman actually kept true to his promise of bringing her food. She kind of expected him to starve her, but maybe she overestimated his cruelty. The smell of the soup filled the room the moment he returned. She had to admit, seeing him balance the plate while keeping the heavy door from falling shut was a tiny bit impressive. She expected to see him spill it's content, but it appeared that he could handle it.

"So, am I supposed to eat on the ground?" He ignored her question, instead putting the soup down in front of her. She sighed. "Guess that means yes. Can you unlock the cuffs? I'm kinda bleeding there, and I can't eat this with my hands bound."

"Are you sure? It's a soup, you should be able to, you know- sip it." He snickered at her indignation. "I'm not going to do that. I would rather starve, thank you very much." She turned around, not for the first time wishing that she could be somewhere far away right now. She jumped a little as Roman touched her wrists, fumbling with the handcuffs behind her back. One second later a metallic _clink_ sounded out, and her hands were free. Maybe she should focus on getting the key to those handcuffs before planning any break-outs.

She lazily stretched her arms, relishing the feeling of being able to move them again after all that time. One look at her wrists confirmed her suspicions of them bleeding, as the skin had been scraped open on some parts. It didn't look too bad, but… "Do you have antiseptic or something I can put on those?" she showed him her wrists, gesturing to the blood. "You have a lot of demands for a captive, don't you." "What? If you hadn't shackled my hands so tightly, I wouldn't be bleeding right now! Don't blame me for not wanting to get an infection or worse" she huffed, gingerly rubbing the sore spots. "Geez, I get it. I will get you some cream. Aren't you hungry?" Another grumbling sound resonated from her stomach in response to his question, causing her to blush bright red again. She picked up the plate of soup, inhaling the delicious aroma. Before she even knew it, she had eaten up everything, leaving her to sigh in content. She barely even noticed his departure, and only looked up when the door fell open again.

"Can you just leave my hands uncuffed? I'm not going to run away with my leg, and it's not like I will be getting out of that door anyways. Right now those shackles are just a useless nuisance."

She massaged her wrists, stimulating the bloodflow, then went on to crack her knuckles. "No. If you behave well in the future, I might remove them permanently, but for now I won't." He threw a small package of lotion at her, Ruby catching it with one hand. She hissed as her skin burnt when it came in contact with the antiseptic. She was barely done applying it when her captor already forced her hands back roughly once again. "Hey! Be more gentle, you are gonna make it worse!" She protested at his careless treatment. "It's not gonna kill you", he responded as he put the cuffs on again. She noticed a distinct lack of tightness this time around. Looks like he did listen to her, albeit barely.

After he left, she slumped down, sighing as she contemplated the bed again. Finally she put herself together, wobbling over to the slightly stained mattress and threw herself down. Her limbs ached from having been on the floor for so long. Most definitely not an experience she wanted to repeat, if only to keep Roman from taking the bed. This guy would go as far as to leave her in a completely empty room just for the fun of it. And he probably would even expect her to thank him for his generosity. Yep, gonna avoid sleeping in on the floor in the future.

"Yang, guys, I really hope that you are out there somewhere" Ruby whispered.


End file.
